Chris Kilford: Canada needs a new Syrian refugee strategy

My first visit to the Turkish-Syrian border and the Turkish-run Kilis refugee camp took place in the summer of 2012.

Chris Kilford

Updated: December 4, 2014

A Syrian refugee girl sits on mud at a refugee camp, in the eastern Lebanese Town of Al-Faour near the border with Syria, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014. Syrian refugees in Lebanon reacted with panic Tuesday to news that the U.N. was suspending aid to 1.7 million refugees due to lack of funds a decision officials said threatens to starve thousands of families and add pressure on already strained hosting countries.Hussein Malla / AP

My first visit to the Turkish-Syrian border and the Turkish-run Kilis refugee camp took place in the summer of 2012.

As the Canadian Defence Attaché to Turkey at the time, the refugee situation was not technically at the top of my agenda. But before arriving in Turkey, I had completed my doctorate at Queen’s, where a good deal of the course work focused on the many issues that can easily undermine both developing and advancing countries, including coping with large numbers of refugees.

The first Syrian refugees had crossed into Turkey in early 2011. At the time, most observers thought it was a temporary situation – the numbers were small and manageable. Once the Syrian regime fell, which would be soon, they would almost certainly all go home. But, and after almost four years of fighting, there are now more than 1.5 million Syrians in Turkey, with at least 220,000 in 22 camps scattered across the country. In addition, Turkey has spent $4 billion so far coping with the influx. The good news is that if you are a Syrian refugee, the best place to be is in Turkey; conditions elsewhere are not nearly as good.

In July 2013, Canada agreed to accept 1,300 Syrian refugees by the end of 2014 after the UN asked the international community to resettle 30,000 asylum seekers. Our pledge included taking 200 high-risk Syrian refugees who the UN had identified as being in immediate danger in Iraqi, Jordanian and Lebanese camps. Churches and private groups were to sponsor the rest. It was, however, a pledge not kept – one that placed an unrealistic onus on charity organizations and immigration officials to move quickly, even though it can take up to 36 months to process a refugee application. Moreover, when the Canadian Embassy in Damascus closed in January 2012, access to Syrian government agencies and other contacts that are often vital when conducting criminal and background checks for those seeking asylum was lost.

While the plan to bring Syrian refugees to Canada has seemingly faltered, Ottawa has committed over $600 million in humanitarian, development and security assistance in response to the Syria crisis. A good deal of this support has been given to Jordan, whose already limited infrastructure and security capabilities have been severely tested by the arrival of 600,000 Syrian refugees (although the unofficial number is believed to be far higher). There was also a push by Canada to resettle 5,000 Iraqi and Iranian refugees living in Turkey in order to help the Turkish government cope with their overall refugee crisis.

Still, taking in these Iraqi and Iranian refugees and offering to sponsor 1,300 Syrians is really a drop in the bucket considering the numbers involved. That’s not to say that Canada should become an open door, but the Syrian civil war has created an extraordinary humanitarian crisis and now the largest refugee population under the UN’s mandate. Given the UN will host a Syrian refugee ministerial pledging conference in Geneva in a few days, hopefully Canada will come to the table with a better thought-out plan – one that also recognizes charitable organizations cannot shoulder the load alone.

At the same time, if we are really interested in helping the Syrian people and emptying the refugee camps, Canada should be at the diplomatic forefront facilitating an end to the civil war. Most refugees fled Syria simply to escape the fighting or from the clutches of al-Nusra and ISIL. They are, by and large, neither for nor against the Syrian regime. Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said last month that those who have direct or indirect influence in the Syria crisis need to understand they are all losing. It’s time, he added, “for political leaders to come together, forget their differences and put an end to this senseless violence.”

Sensible advice, but is anyone listening?

Dr. Chris Kilford (then Colonel Kilford) served as Canada’s Defence Attaché to Turkey from 2011-2014. He recently became a fellow with the Queen’s Centre for International and Defence Policy.

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